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Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsPet Sleeping Companions?
Study (who pays for this type of shit?) shows you should NOT sleep with your dog/cat for various reasons - allergies, sleep disturbance, etc.
We tried shutting the door to our bedroom and the cat learned to open it - lever type handles. Then we locked it and he bitched so loud we gave up. Now he lays on my chest as I try to read my Kindle before lights out and sleeps beside my wife all night until his AM feeding. We are properly trained now in his bedtime routine.
"Among pet owners who slept with their four-legged companions, 30 percent reported waking up because of their pets at least once a night, according to new research. Of those pet owners who shared a bed with Fido or Fluffy more than four nights a week, 63 percent had poor sleep quality. And 5 percent said they always or almost always had trouble falling back to sleep after being disturbed by a pet."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/05/pets-sleep-sharing-bed_n_5439851.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular
hlthe2b
(102,510 posts)(wondering what she was getting into....
Seriously, I couldn't sleep without her. Knowing she is safe and sleeping soundly relaxes me. A lot like knowing your kids are home and safe, I'd expect.
RebelOne
(30,947 posts)She does not take up much room and will not go to bed without me. Sometimes she will wake me up by licking my face.
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)on the bed, and he knows to not bother me when I am asleep. As long as he can be next to me, he is a happy guy.
Been going on 13 years now for Mr. Waddles....my sleep is fine.
Now, if only the dog would sleep thru those night time thunder storms....
Arugula Latte
(50,566 posts)My kitties pretty much follow one rule: "Do whatever you want, whenever you want, 'cuz no one can stop you anyway."
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)and has been glued to me from the kitten get go.
We just have this thing with each other.
In fact, he ignores eveyone else in the family, totally.
as i am typing this, he is perched on the foot rest of my desk, repeatedly butting his forehead into my calf, wanting attention.
And will not stop till I reach down and pet him.
Thus, as you can see, we have trained each other!
Arugula Latte
(50,566 posts)If I shut my kitties out at night, I get to listen to door scratching and yowling all night.
I love it when they curl up next to me and purr, especially when they're right next to my head. It keeps me warm and makes me feel like things are right with the world.
Maraya1969
(22,509 posts)hugging me. It put a very big smile on my face as soon as I wake and realize he is doing this. That is priceless.
JesterCS
(1,827 posts)shenmue
(38,506 posts)She loved to wiggle against people. What a cuddler!
I miss her so much.
denbot
(9,901 posts)They tend to wake up around 3-4 and want out of the rooms. Occasionally they try to yowl, or yank their way in, but we are now pretty much immune to them.
rug
(82,333 posts)I found my role model
PasadenaTrudy
(3,998 posts)not having my dog on the bed with me all night. She is older now and on meds for congestive heart failure. The meds are causing her to pee more often and she has peed on the bed a few times. I now take her out right at bedtime, and have lots of towels on the bed. Not sure what else to do!
lululu
(301 posts)They have them with fabric covers, so it's not like sleeping on plastic.
PasadenaTrudy
(3,998 posts)for the tip! I also now have towels and doggy pee pads on the bed. I even bought some doggy diapers lol
LiberalElite
(14,691 posts)There was an article in Consumer Reports last year said the same thing but, sharing a bed with a human isn't necessarily any more restful.
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,976 posts)which is most of the time. The only down side is that somehow they magically become extremely large and heavy when the lights go out, making it difficult for me to turn over. Or move.
libodem
(19,288 posts)Into bed with me if she'd have it. She usually gets in to wake me up for breakfast. She gives me the cat love and I give her the canned Feast.Our personal Fair trade agreement.
Sometimes I haul her into my bed at bedtime for some kitty squishing but she slides back out in favor of the floor. My cat is a tease.
I shouldn't go on but she is the best cat evah. Her brother, Bob, was a bossy dominant cruiser. And Ralph was his minion. She watched while he ate. For years I thought she was mentally defective in some way because she was so passive. She never does her nails in the furniture. She never really gets on the furniture. She never jumps on the counter tops or gets on the table. She will come to me if I ask her to. She tells me if her water is low or if she needs more dry food or a treat. She prefers to go outside rather than the box. She comes up for a love a couple of times per day but she is not an attention pest. She is just the nicest kitty!
pink-o
(4,056 posts)My Irish setter slept with me as a puppy, and long after she grew to be 70 lbs. The Golden Retriever sprawled out btwn me and the ex-husband until he took the dog in the divorce. The little black Bombay kitty would be stuck to my lap every evening, then follow me onto the bed where I'd spoon her. No way in holy hell was I EVER going to force these animals to sleep somewhere else. You just lose more sleep trying.
I've had friends whose animals are happy in their own beds or in different rooms. More power to them, but face it: if a pet wants to cuddle with you as you sleep, just let it. Screw the sleep studies. Dogs and cats give us so much pleasure, losing a bit of shut eye is the least we can do for them.
mucifer
(23,611 posts)she used to glare at me when I stayed awake late watching TV. She would look at me, then look at the bedroom door. It was really funny. She was like my mom saying "It's time for bed."
The first night I had her when she was a pup I tried not to have her in my bedroom. She cried and cried so that didn't work.
mnhtnbb
(31,416 posts)we didn't have the heart to put Simba out by himself. He started
coming in and jumping on our bed after we'd gone to bed.
First he would sit on hubby's chest for a few minutes, then he'd
move off--right between us--and sleep there all night.
Simba lived another 3 years after Mousie died. He's been gone
now for over a year and hubby and I still miss that moment--in the dark--
when we'd hear him come into the room and jump on the bed.
KurtNYC
(14,549 posts)There are many options. One relative of mine puts the dog's crate in the room with her and the dog prefers the crate (door open) so they are sleeping in the same room but with limits.
I trained my dogs as puppies to sleep on certain parts of the bed, NOT the middle. One thing that has worked well is that I put an extra pillow on one side of the bed at the foot-end. So one side of the bed is a pillow at the top and a pillow at the foot and the other side is my side.
My dogs are 100 pounds each now and they prefer it on the cool side so they only sleep next to me when it is cooler or during naps. If it is warm they like the floor or near the AC or any air flow. For whatever reason they take different positions during an afternoon nap than they do at night. I am a side sleeper and the female will sleep with her backbone pushed gently against mine. I love it.
My own guess is that I sleep more deeply with the dogs but they do like to get up early during the summer.
Separation
(1,975 posts)I have a Boxer that takes up less room than my Chihuahua. I have a king sized bed and my boxer will lay like a normal person head at the top feet at the bottom. The Chihuahua will either burrow underneath the blankets and lean up against me or will lay perpendicular to me, so that when I wake up at night I got brown eye blinking at me.
Still, wouldn't have it any other way.
3catwoman3
(24,109 posts)...but at the first hint of morning light, at least one of them will get up on top of one of the dressers and start the favorite cat game of tapping things off with one paw and watching them fall on the floor. Every cat I've ever had has loved doing this.
lululu
(301 posts)get up and get my breakfast.
azurnoir
(45,850 posts)in the morning, the dog is another story -she is stubborn about just who's bed it is we've come to an understanding, it involves a bag of dog treats kept beside the bed
Rhiannon12866
(206,728 posts)But I couldn't sleep if I didn't know where he was.
applegrove
(118,900 posts)it when I get up.